catch NEPA patron saint Amanda Pereira on stage in Aurora!

4) How did theatre win your love?

Indirectly my interest in theatre began because of my big sister. She started singing and, like many little sisters do, whatever she was doing, I wanted to do. In being put into vocal lessons by my parents however, I realized just how much I loved it for me. Training in voice opened me up to wanting to explore all of the performing arts. Growing up, apart from my aspirations to become like my big sister, I also had always watched shows thinking how spectacular it would be to actually be up there myself. My first show was when I was 15 years old playing one of the witches in Allison Williams' Mmmbeth. In preparing myself for the show, practicing with my fellow cast members, and finally performing it in front of my family, friends and community, there was a feeling like no other! I loved being able to share a story with people, and be a contributor to why they were enjoying themselves for those couple hours. I was hooked. I have since then been a part of as many theatre productions, musicals, and vocal performances I can; I am currently with Aurora Performing Arts Group, a community musical theatre group in Aurora - we're preparing to put on Cabaret in May! I love the feeling of being given a character to embody and bring to life and make your own. I love the excitement and the on-edge feeling of being a part of live theatre, and I love the trust the audience puts in you as a performer to give them all you've got! I believe I always knew that somehow performance would be a part of my life, and once I got involved I have never been able to look back. It has become, and maybe always was, a part of who I am.

thank you, Amanda.
break a leg.

-submitted by Amanda Pereira and Tara Beagan

VOTE

amanda pereira, Patron Saint of Native Earth,

Part III

 

4) Why should artists vote?

 

Growing up a part of the performing arts, I have seen first hand how difficult it is to find the funding and support to keep the arts going. The only way to acquire this support is through the action of the members of the performing arts community. It is up to us to request and demand support, and this cannot be done without the support of our fellow artists. The performing arts are seriously underrepresented, Indigenous peoples are even more so underrepresented in the government, and I believe the only way this can change is by collective action. In being an artist, you are creating and exercising a voice of freedom and expression. This voice needs to be heard, and it will not be unless each artist pushes a little further and demands his or her voice be heard on a national level. As much as it is the responsibility of artists to present the messages they have through the stories they tell, it is their responsibility to ensure the stories and voices of the next generation of artists may also be acknowledged. This can be done simply by having each artist vote and therefore collectively demonstrate a more powerful presence in this federal election. For our voices cannot be heard unless we speak.